Whitman passes budget after contentious negotiations

Tuesday

May 7, 2019 at 5:01 PM

After a season of bitter negotiations that pitted the school district against Town Hall, town meeting voters passed a $33.4 million budget on Monday.

WHITMAN — After a season of bitter negotiations that pitted the school district against Town Hall, town meeting voters passed a $33.4 million budget Monday to fund the town and Whitman's portion of the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District.

White-knuckle budget negotiations ended just days before town meeting, with the School Committee accepting a budget increase that will still require cutting 19 positions in the schools, and many Town Hall departments cutting their budgets.

Whitman’s contribution to the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District’s budget increased by 8.5 percent, and school district’s budget overall increased by 3.66 percent.

The increase was less than what the school district needs to maintain its current level of staffing and programs, according to school Superintendent Jeffrey Szymaniak. The district will cut 19 positions, both through layoffs and attrition. The Enterprise asked Szymaniak on Tuesday how many school staffers will be laid off, and how many are voluntarily leaving the district, but Szymaniak did not respond to the emailed question.

The positions cut include two elementary school teachers and two high school teachers. Foreign languages will be cut at the middle school level and the two language teaching positions will be cut. Three "duty aides" in the elementary schools and six paraprofessionals will be cut, but students who receive special education services will still have paraprofessionals. The elementary schools will lose a part-time music instructor, but the music programs for fourth-graders will not be cut entirely.

Other departments, including police and fire, are taking budget cuts, but have avoided layoffs. Department heads also agreed to take smaller raises than they had been promised, and the Fire Department put off hiring a deputy chief.

The budget passed, but the process is not over, Town Administrator Frank Lynam said at the start of the meeting. During the May 18 town election, voters will be asked to pass a "debt exclusion," a temporary property tax increase to pay off construction projects at Town Hall and the police and fire stations. There will be another town meeting on June 17 to rearrange the town budget around the debt exclusion.

In the months to come, Whitman voters will likely be asked to consider a property tax increase around $2.5 million, Lynam said.

"Taxpayers need to recognize need for override in the fall to avoid drastic cuts," said Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson.

During a debate over funding Lynam's salary, a few voters pointed out that Lynam had called for a property tax increase during the 2018 town meeting, but had not yet brought it forward.

Resident Marshall Ottino moved to reduce funding for Lynam's $128,169 salary to $1.

"Negligence and broken promises have led Whitman to where we are today," Ottino said. He pointed out that Lynam had talked about the need for a property tax increase last year, but never brought a proposal to the voters.

Several other residents spoke in Lynam's defense during the meeting, and voters ultimately voted to pay Lynam his full salary.

The $33,440,972 town budget for fiscal 2020 drew unusual attention because of the cuts to the school district, and the threat of cuts to police and fire. More than 400 voters participated in the town meeting, according to Town Clerk Dawn Varley, and they packed the auditorium in Town Hall.

The budget season began with the school district asking Whitman for a $2 million budget increase — when the town had less than $1 million in new revenue.

If the schools were funded with that amount, the police and fire departments would have lost about a quarter of their budgets, and would have laid off police officers and firefighters.

The School Committee agreed to a budget increase of 8.5 percent last week, and the Finance Committee worked with the leaders of Town Hall departments to cut expenses while avoiding layoffs. The result was the $33,440,972 budget that passed Monday.

At town meeting, several people lamented the cuts to the schools, but understood they were necessary.

Now Whitman, a town known for low taxes, is staring down property tax hikes — or will face deeper cuts to the schools, and to the police and fire departments, next year.

Staff writer Josie Albertson-Grove can be reached at jagrove@enterprisenews.com or 508-427-4031.

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